It was so exciting to finally visit the brand new V&A East Museum. This dynamic building now grace sthe East Bank in Queen Elizabeth Park next to UAL, the BBC and Sadlers Wells. And inside is a treasure trove of objects and space for fascinating exhibitions.
The magnificent Elsa Schiaparelli is having a well-deserved moment at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Working from the 1920s -50s, she was really an artist who found her way into clothes designing – and what a legacy that produced. This show, Fashion becomes Art is a fitting tribute to her astounding contribution to 20th century fashion.
Very interesting to see the work of Konrad Mägi, a ‘master of European modernism’ at the charming Dulwich Picture Gallery. An Estonian artist who embraced bold colour, striking compositions and a very different kind of expressionism in his lively landscapes and portraits.
I confess I’d never heard of Michaelina Wautier before visiting the new exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. She was a remarkably accomplished painter in the early 17th century and thoroughly deserving of this retrospective.
Artist George Stubbs’s work is synonymous with horses. And this charming show at the National Gallery shows how dedicated he was to really understanding equine physiognomy and capturing the spirit of wonderful racehorses of the late 1700s.
Tracy Emin: A second life. What a visceral, heart-rending exhibition at Tate Modern. We’ve been getting know her art for the past 40 years but there is a searing honesty to her personal presentation of her own life history, as depicted through art in this extraordinary show. There’s also a feeling of triumph and survival.
That Rose Wylie is an extremely productive artist becomes immediately apparent at the huge retrospective which has opened at the Royal Academy of Art. Now in her nineties, she shows no sign of slowing down and regularly creates huge canvases with bold, freely painted images of things, places, ideas and references which reflect her life.
Lucien Freud: Drawing into Painting is a very enjoyable show at the National Portrait Gallery. I’m pretty familiar with Freud’s work but it was very special see works which are rarely exhibited and to see the relationship between his drawing (which was so fundamental to his work) and the painted pieces which followed.
Paper Places 